Before the Rise was a weekly event that Biltmore Records put together with T. Fant PR back in 2011. The event was at Jet Lounge now called Society Nightclub. This video is of Danyelle Cherece the host of the event and one of the most amazing voices in the QC. The sound quality is not that good but this was defiantly an amazing song and night at “Before the Rise”. Shout out to T.Fant, DJ Badalla “B”, The Band and everyone that made “Before the Rise” a great event.

CIAA week officially starts on February 24th but to kind of kick off the pre celebrations HUGO DA CAPO will be Premiering New Music on WGIV 103.3 FM’s “Big Tyme Radio Show” Friday February 21st at 10PM. We would like you all to listen in and call up to let us know what you think. The number to the station is 704-553-1370. Biltmore Records would also like to thank the Big Tyme Radio Show for putting “Make It Official” in rotation. The Big Tyme Radio Show Air’s every Friday and Saturday Night from 10PM – 12AM. It’s a great show so make sure to lock them in when you’re in the QC. You can also listen online to the stations live stream here: BIG TYME RADIO SHOW FRIDAY AND SATURDAY 10PM-12AM

A lot of people have been talking about the MJ Cirque Du Soleil Tour and it will be in here Charlotte on April 8th & 9th. It also reminded me of this great dub step video I saw a few months ago check it out. I attached the link for the tour that will be at Time Warner Cable Arena.

So here’s the thing, if you watched the Scratch Documentary displaying the origins of Hip-Hop you see DJ Red Alert right there with Bambotta and Kool Herc. If you don’t know who they are please watch the documentary. What I think is that since Dj Red Alert is a hip-hop pioneer his party should get a little more light, but hey that’s just me. I originally was only going to post the old school events first but somehow WP just did its own thing after loading a few flyers. The error was not intentional. In any event there is a lot going on in the City and here are just a few that I found courtesy of CLT Party.com.

CLT PARTY.COM has the full list of events going on in Charlotte for CIAA Week. Here are just a few and we will add more but we just found this great website that has all of the event info. Check it out!!

The art of Hip-Hop is always expanding and will continue to grow. Not just in regards to the B-boy or B-Girl dance culture but in all elements of Hip-Hop. This video is showing how Hip-Hop is being cultivated by a new generation. Some may only see this as a cool video, but there is a lot that goes into learning the actual art. For example, how long did they have to practice to be able to compete on this level? They also have to understand the music that they are listening to and the rules of the B-boy dance culture. Don’t be misinformed. There is allot of training and education that goes into Hip-Hop and this is a great example of how the culture continues to progress.

Some have defined MC as MIC Controller or Master of Ceremony, but I tend to agree with Rakims definition of MC and that is to “Move the Crowd”. In the early days of Hip-Hop most thought moving the crowd meant to entertain the crowd at a party or live event. That is only partially true and if you look closely at the video for Move the Crowd you understood what it really means. You may also understand how today with the spread of globalization in modern society the term takes that initial definition to another level. How do you move masses of people to a particular product, event or idea?

This is not to take away from the science of lyricism. With Rakims Tribute to Nelson Mandela he told the Icons life story in a rhyme. It’s is an inspirational work of art and to me means a lot more than a simple RIP Mandela, which I could not bring myself to post on may page because it did not say what I wanted to say. The tribute song was something I thought was powerful and worthy of Mandelas character and accomplishments. That is timeless and the reason why Rakim is still one of my favorite artists.

Traditionally musicians have been used to market just about everything due to their influence. So with that being said the best MC’s are the ones that have the most influence to get people to subscribe to their original idea. Some may interpret that as saying that as an artist you need to be commercial. However, on the contrary I am saying simply that the best MC’s understand business and the affect they have on consumers. That is not to say that you follow the trends to identify with large groups of people but rather it means to create your own trend and have masses of people following them. Now here lies the problem; if a trend is set that an MC does not agree with does he follow it anyway or go against the grain? The art of MC-ing has always been about being different so a real MC does not follow any trend they create new ones. That would be the first lesson to any aspiring artist “originality”.